Dirty Sensor this soon?
 

I have a 6 week old 5D Mark II...noticed today against a bright blue sky...noticeable "spots"...I am assuming Dust on the sensor ...and I will bring in to get cleaned...
I have not been in any overly dusty locations...just home, etc.

is this to be expected? dust this soon.??...especially this many black spots?

see attached video to see...there are about 6 of them
you will need to download the quicktime file in full resolution to see..
20090328 Dirty Sensor on Vimeo


first half of video is with 100-400mm at 400mm..
last part of video is 24-105mm at 105mm...

Please let me know

Dirt on the sensor has nothing to do with the length of time that you have owned the camera but is all to do with how many times you have changed lenses & particularly how carefully. That video certainly shows something that could well be on the sensor although the extra spot in the 2nd half of the clip could be on the 2nd lens or it's another spot that you put on the sensor when you changed lenses. To confirm that is really your problem take some still photos of clear sky then change lenses. If the spots are still there it is likely on the sensor. It's straightforward to clean with the right products. The best are expensive but I like the range of brushes etc. from Visible Dust VisibleDust - DSLR Camera Sensor Cleaning

The vibrating sensor cleaner on the 5DII is supposed to help remove dust spots but once dust is in the camera body spots are still likely to end up back on the sensor unless properly removed from the camera & not just shaken off.

Cheers

Nigel

Take a picture against the bright sky with f/10 to spot sensor dust. Don't use videos to the judge sensor dust because you have no idea what the aperture setting was when the video was shot..

Bruce, don't sweat it... that's nothing compared to how dirty some of my DSLR sensors have gotten over the years. :)

Get yourself 2 items:

1) a soft sensor brush (I use a LensPen) for light "daily" use cleaning dust off the sensor after a day of changing lenses out in the wild.

2) a "wet" cleaning swab kit, for cleaning any persistant spots.

You do not need to take your camera in for cleaning. The shop is just going to use one of the above two methods, then charge you 2x what it would cost to buy it yourself. And then you might have dust again 2 days later.

I've had my camera about as long as you and have have cleaned it twice since. No biggie.
Also, what Yang said... the only true guage of sensor dust is to stop waaay down and shoot stills against a solid background. You'll probably find way more than you think.

I'll bet money that if the typical DSLR owner (who doesn't already do this) pointed their camera at a out-of-focus white surface at f22 and pixel peeped, they wouldn't believe the amount of dust on their sensors, LOL.

Thanks all for the responses.
Went to McBain and they sold me a sensor cleaning kit...got rid of the fear of doing it myself.

I do not think the kit I was sold is that good...still remnants in the corners/edges and the odd time, leaves a strand of the swab behind. There is also one spot that I cannot seem to get rid of...and I am hesitant to put too much pressure to remove.

I will need to get a better quality cleaning kit/set up as recommended.

Thanks

Hey you veteren senor cleaners, I have a question.

My understanding is that what actually is being cleaned is not the sensor itself, but a "low-pass" filter over it. Is that a piece of glass that is somewhat robust ? Or have I got that all wrong ?

Don't get rid of the fear, fear is good when messing with your sensor directly like this, just don't let the fear stop you. This is still SERIOUS business, you can screw up your camera, let there be no doubt, so read up (a lot) and buy and use the right product -- don't just rely on a single source at a camera shop, etc., it's not beyond reason they may have no clue. There were issues with people messing up the original 5D when wet wiping, and that got sorted out the hard way for some. So, just saying, be willing to clean, but keep the fear, be extremely careful, and only wet wipe once in a long while -- not for every spot every time you get one.

That is my understanding as well. Apparently it is a lot of work to actually scratch it... but still... the horror....

Don't use a brush.

Just get a rocket blower. put the cam in cleaning mode, give it a few quick bursts of air and you're good to go.

If you are going to make a statement like that, you need to put the logic behind it too.

Here's why I prefer a brush and not a blower... I have a blower and a significant part of the time it fails to remove the dust. Plus, a blower just moves the dust around, a brush will actually lift it out.

Being that my reply was a continuation to a forum topic, one only needs to read the reply immediately prior to mine to gain proper context.

In fact, I would advise against of using anything of a wet applicator as some have suggested. Putting liquid on the delicate sensor coating is just asking for trouble if you're not a trained technician. There has been enough reports of sensor cleaning horror stories to discourage this practice.

My experience has been that the brush doesn't lift dust particles out. I've used sensor pads with an adhesive surface to lift out dust, but I've stop doing that and found the method of holding the camera upside down and blowing into the sensor will almost always clean it. Of course YMMV depending on the type of particles and the density.. but isn't always better to advise the least invasive method and if it's not enough, step up to one that involves touching the low pass filter?

I wonder if there's something we could do with static electricity to help repel the dust. That would help the blower get the dust off the sensor and out of the camera.

I'm convinced that static electricity is one reason that the camera attracts dust as quickly as it does. We only have the body open for a a matter of minutes over its life, yet the dust settles there quickly.

Thank you for explaining how threads work.

Since you missed my point, I'll reiterate... It isn't helpful to just say "don't use a brush, buy a blower." If there is a reason people shouldn't use brushes, than you should tell them. (and "blowers are better" isn't a reason not to use brushes.)

This is nonsense. Thousands of photographers use wet cleaning swabs every day. I've been using them on all five of the SLRs I've owned in the last six years and have never had any kind of incident, and I'm not a trained technician. Cleaning a sensor with a wet swab is simpler than making Kraft Dinner, and nothing anyone should be afraid of. Read and follow the instructions... that's all the "trained technicians" do.

Here's a list of all the common ways of cleaning your sensors, and the pros/cons to each. Decide for yourself:
http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/methods.html

Note: Sensor Swabs are actually guaranteed not to damage your sensor.

Dylan,, which kit do you recommend..?

Sensor Swabs for sure. Guaranteed not to damage your camera. Hard to beat that! Plus, I think they are the cleaner of choice for 3 or 4 of the major camera manufacturers. If you send your camera to get cleaned, it's just getting the same treatment you could do at home for a $60 kit that will last years.

Thanks for the heads up on that...

That's great, I still think it's a last resort technique..

Warning on using Isopopanol alocohol on EOS 5D sensor!

5D and Eclipse fluid warning

5D sensor - RPS Forum

I don't care if they have a guarantee, I don't want to use an invasive technique if an non-invasive technique works very well. You can get effective cleaning without touching your sensor by using a rocket blower as I have suggested

Rocket Blower....WOW!!! [Archive] - Canon Digital Photography Forums

At the end of the day, I don't really care, it's your equipment. I'm just giving the most sensible advise. Try the rocket blower, if it doesn't get the dust off, send it in for a cleaning or do it yourself. Once it's cleaned, use rocket blower on the sensor often to not allow dust to build up overtime plus it's also very useful to blow off dust from the rear of the lens before you mount it to the body.

Hey, I care about YOUR equipment! :)

But I agree with you, start with the lease invasive and work your way up. The Rocket blower is a good tool. If that doesn't work, go for a brush (which, like the blower, works better upside down). If that doesn't work, as a last resort, go for the swab.

The links posted regarding cleaning fluids destroying sensors are from a couple of years ago & refer to the 5D Mk I & according to 1 or 2 of the links there was a bad batch of filters that allowed fluid to damage the sensor.

Either a brush or a blower will remove loose dust particles from the sensor (o rather from the filter that is in front of & protecting the sensor. The blower just moves the dust around in the chamber where it is ready to settle on the sensor sometime later. The brush method is able to totally remove the dust from the camera body but through poor technique may also just swoosh it around.

Wet cleaning will remove stuck on dust whereas the blower or brush cannot.

Cheers

Nigel

Look, this is not rocket science. Everyone who knows what the hell they are doing on this topic knows to start with least invasive and then move up the chain to wet wiping (being more and more careful as you move up the chain of course). We also know not to overly obsess on minor spots and to just let them accumulate until such time that you absolutely can't deal with it anymore. This is particularly true for spots that can only be seen at extremely closed down apertures.

For those who are nervous about cleaning their sensor here is an excellent video demonstration of how it should be done with a blower, sensor swabs & Eclipse. YouTube - The Wet Method of Cleaning a Digital SLR Sensor

Cheers

Nigel Barker

Go read the information about sensor cleaning at Cleaning Digital Sensors, Cleaning Digital Cameras - Photographic Solutions, Inc. - Digital & Photographic Cleaning Solutions They are the makers of Eclipse and E2 cleaning solutions and the Senosor Swab cleaning wipes. I have an original 5D and found that E2 was the proper cleaning fluid for this camera. The website indicates that Eclipse is the proper cleaner for the 5DMkII. They seem like a solid company who offer guarantee that their products will not damage cameras when used as directed.

Suck Don't Blow!!
 

A Vacuum Hose would lift debris away rather than disperse it. This is what I would use when required.

I thought the 5D2 has the vibrating/ultrasonic screen. Is this not working?

As it operates every time you switch the camera on or off there is no way of knowing.. It may be doing nothing or on the other hand it may be doing a great job & is saving you a lot of manual cleaning:-)

I suspect that it does a good job of shaking off loose dust that has just landed but that dust stays in the camera ready to settle on the sensor at some later date.

Cheers

Nigel Barker

It will shake dust loose, but not pollen or any oily/sticky contaminant.

Which I think was one of the discussions about my 5D1, that lubricants from the factory for the flip up mirror were getting on the sensor. On the other hand, I have never noticed lube on my mirror hinge, so that doesn't sound right.